Trails through NK offer a variety of benefits, people say

PORT ORCHARD - A plan that describes interlocking regional and local trails throughout North Kitsap was given a strong endorsement by about two dozen people during a public hearing Monday night.

Many of those testifying before the Kitsap County commissioners had spoken previously before the Kitsap County Planning Commission, which offered a unanimous recommendation to the commissioners last month.

Since the planning commission hearing, planners have reviewed the idea of allowing trails to be built within stream buffers and other sensitive environments, said Dennis Oost, trails coordinator for Kitsap County. Environmental criteria have been listed to help planners make such decisions, he said.

Since an amendment to the Kitsap County Comprehensive Plan would allow trails through "open space," a more detailed description of such properties was added, he said.

North Kitsap resident Molly Lee said the trails plan needs to be made consistent with the county's Critical Areas Ordinance. Trails should not create competition between humans and wildlife, each using the last available strips of vegetation, she said.

A few North Kitsap residents associated with the Hansville Greenway Association, including president Art Ellison, said they supported the trails plan but wanted some changes in the introductory language to ensure that their group is not made subservient to the North Kitsap Trails Association, which developed the plan.

"We wish to maintain autonomy," Ellison said, noting that the plan shows trails going through the Hansville Greenway, which his group maintains primarily as a nature preserve.

Patricia Graf-Hoke, executive director of the Kitsap Peninsula Visitor and Convention Bureau, said it is easy to underestimate the tourism value of a well-functioning trail system.

"Trails do attract visitors," she said. "These parks, these trails are our Bellagio Fountains, our Disneyland. They provide access to the natural wonders of Kitsap County."

Mike Walton of the Kitsap Public Facilities District agreed that nice trails will draw tourists while providing recreation and transportation facilities for Kitsap County residents. The PFD played a major role in funding Kitsap Conference Center in Bremerton as well as new facilities at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds and other sports facilities.

As for a future Kitsap County trail system, Walton said, "the PFD will be able perhaps to add financial support to its moral support."

Having a trails plan in place is considered a first step in acquiring major state and federal transportation and recreation dollars, officials say.

The North Kitsap trails plan, with an estimated 10,000 hours of volunteer work, has become a model for a countywide trails plan, scheduled to be developed next year.